When my book was published, I decided to develop a strategy for spreading my word across the world to those parents who lost a child and were suffering in the misery of a broken heart. I had no idea where or how I should begin, and after much thought and study, I decided to become a Guest on Podcast Shows.
I did homework to listen to various Podcasters and was intent on matching with the spiritual ones. I kept my mind open to find the ones who showed dedication to God. However, I booked my first show with an atheist for some unknown reason. I realized immediately, within the first five to ten minutes of defending my position with God and explaining my allegiance to Him this experience was good for me. Perhaps this was orchestrated to be first. I did the most challenging first and stood my ground as a proud Christian. Now, my pathway was wide open to learn and grow in strength for evangelizing my faith and love for God to all the future podcasters I would be interviewed by. Jesus' mother, Mary, became a significant person in Chapter 3 of my book, and I accepted her as my mentor for the next thirty years. She had tools I was interested in, which was the Rosary Prayer to be said on every bead of the Rosary beads.
Moving forward, I just listened to my recent podcast and decided I would write selectively about my hosts and why they are essential to me. Following is an excerpt from Podcaster Tanya Reason of Australia @The Gospel According to Mum, Episode 12 Part 1 – In the Shadow of Your Wings. Tanya wrote the following message as the introduction to Part 1.
"Carole Sluski is a mother of two daughters and an accomplished entrepreneur in business and creative arts. She is also a victim of the worst loss a mother could know, the loss of her child. Through devotion to faith, she reached out to God for help to survive grief's immense mental and physical pain.
After thirty years, Carole obeyed a calling to share her journey of learning how to live with peace and well-being for the rest of her life. Her book Thirty: A Mother's Spiritual Journey After Losing Her Child is the topic of our conversation. Over three decades, Carole has gathered her expertise, knowledge, and experiences to remain on the path to recovery, benefit those she loves, and give help and hope to as many people as she can.
In part 1 of this episode, Carole shares some of the events of that terrible morning in 1992 when she first realized her daughter would not open her eyes again. We talked about the early stages of her journey and how her heart remained open to all that God offered to keep her with Him."
As listed in the Best 60 Christian Mom Podcasts in 2022 on Feedspot
Tanya, host of The Gospel According to Mum, released her audio of part 1 of my interview and was posted on my website as the number fifteen podcast. Tanya wanted to know more about the Rosary Prayer. She realized this prayer was about Jesus's walk-in life and death from the beginning of being conceived through a miracle of the Holy Spirit, born to Mother Mary, dying on the cross, and rising to Heaven, called the Ascension. The importance of Mary is shown throughout the Rosary Prayer. She gets special recognition in the fourth and fifth sections of ten beads of the Joyful Mystery as she ascends to Heaven upon her death and becomes the Queen of Heaven and Earth. The Rosary Prayer is the five Mysteries representing everything about Jesus, highlighting Mary's part in His life, death, and resurrection. This tool, the Rosary Prayer, is a gift from Jesus, which is His purpose of salvation for humanity and offered through Mother Mary's Rosary with biblical facts supporting truth in the Bible's New Testament. It tells us of her involvement as His mother. She is not Divine; she is Jesus' human mother who does become a well-deserved saint in the eyes of Catholicism.
I am very impressed with Tanya as an interviewer. She was extremely prepared and communicated with me. She read my book before the interview and informed me there were chapters she would read over again as there was so much to take in. She asked me questions relating to many topics I covered in THIRTY. During my interview with her, I realized how strong my faith is, and I had no hesitation in answering any question. Undoubtedly, the death of my daughter has brought me closer to God, and my answers were sincere from my heart and soul.
I will always love my daughter, Paula, and I will always thank God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for creating me in His image, thankfulness for the gift of Ellen, my firstborn daughter, the relationship I have with my husband, Denny and the cherished gift of the Rosary Prayer.
I'm anxiously awaiting Tanya's part 2 of the interview and promise this will be posted on my website immediately. I will write a blog relating to my thoughts on her questions and how they prompted me to respond with true feelings buried deep inside me. Podcasters such as Tanya remind me of several Podcasters who previously interviewed me. I will also write about them because this is all a part of my learning and growth in understanding the faith I must share. I want my blogs to be filled with communication and information from me relating to the present time. Interviews with Spiritual Podcasters will make me a stronger person in my spirituality, and I will share them with you as I continue my journey of the healing process.
The valley of grief I once walked on is not as hurting and challenging as in the beginning years of Paula's death. I've successfully added necessary foundations to my life, which helped fill the severe loss of losing my child. I am a student of God's creation and took His advice seriously: to work on my physical and mental health. During the last thirty years plus one, I had a choice for life or death, and I chose to live. I work very hard on this daily, and I remain in a comfortable, peaceful place.
~ Carole J. Sluski